Not your typical school

I have never seen anything like the school I am observing in right now. You would never know that outside the classroom walls poverty and violence is everywhere. The school has students from pre-kindergarten to 12th grade. The school repeatedly sends all of its high school seniors off to college year and after year. Its not the most nurturing environment but they sure do produce results. Everyday at Providence St. Mel is careful planned by the administration and teachers. At 8a.m. every morning after the first bell rings all the third grade students are expected to be seated and ready to learn. Each day is started by a student reading a prayer over the loud speaker. Then the students stand up and all say the pledge of allegiance and the schools motto together. The school motto is rather lengthy but every student knows the words and says it with great pride.
Most of the third graders day is divided into 46 minute blocks of time, with 5 minute brakes in between, Every day of the week has a different set schedule. The daily agenda is on the board everyday. The third graders almost never change rooms so the five minutes is used as a bathroom brake but they normally skip the brake completely. They get 25 minutes for lunch and have no recess. Each day they have one subject that they get to leave the classroom for. The students have P.E,.(twice a week) art, music and have library resource time each week.
There is no talking allowed in the hallways as the students line up in their perfectly formed reassigned lines. They walk in silence with their arms behind their backs. For the first ten minutes of lunch there is also no talking and even their art projects are done in silence. The school is focused on structure and academics the entire day. If you brake a rule then you get a consequence, its that simple. The third graders have rubrics attached to their papers, receive letter grades and have final exams.
This is not the nurturing environment I am used to be but I admire what they are doing. This is the only structure many of these kids have. I am very impressed what they have done with the resources they have.